Yesterday was M.’s 9th birthday, her first since her father died. I tried my best to make it a good day for her, and I think it was. We got through the whole day without her being sad at all, which is good. I, of course, kept thinking about what he was missing, and how […]

Life changes fast. Life changes in an instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The Year of Magical Thinking has been on my reading list since it first came out at the end of 2005, and I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it. In looking for books […]

As with most of us, I love the idea of reusing and recycling things that could otherwise just be useless. Pallets have been hugely popular over the years for the sheer variety of things you can do with them, either as a whole or by taking them apart. Reclaimed wood, especially barn wood, is just […]

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There’s an App for That: 5 iPhone Apps I Love

I’ll admit it. I love my iPhone. I use it for everything. From the basics of texting and email to passing time and earning money, no matter what I’m looking for there really is an “app for that.” Here are my current favorites, ones I use daily (at least!):

IF by IFTTT – formerly called IFTTT (If This, Then That) this app interacts with a ton of other apps and online programs to automate your life. You simply set up “recipes” that tell the app that if one thing happens, it should do something else. Things I currently use it for include sending me a brief weather report every morning at 7:00 a.m. so I know how to dress (both myself and my girls). If some of my closest friends tweets, I get a digest of what they tweeted so I don’t miss anything important (or more likely funny) that they post. Whenever I post to this blog, IF posts to both my Facebook page for this blog, and my Twitter feed to let everyone know there’s something new here. I’m a member of Swagbucks, so I get a text when a new code is posted. There are more recipes I use, but you get the idea. IF is compatible with so many other apps and programs, as well as household and auto devices like “Automatic” and “Hue” that I had to look up half of them to find out what they were. IF is probably my favorite app, by far, just because of its versatility.

Day One by Bloom Built, LLC – There are so many journaling apps out there, so many to choose from I couldn’t tell you which is the “best” one, but for me, Day One works better than so many others. I’ve had others on my phone, and used them for a day or two and then quit. Sometimes there was something about the app that I didn’t like, sometimes I just lost interest. Day One works for me. For one thing, it sends me a reminder each day. Just one reminder, not annoying “Hey! Pay attention to me!” notifications a few times a day. The app itself is clean-looking and easy to use. It allows you to start with text or pictures, set the location so you know where you were when you posted, and records the weather at the time of the post. You can look back at your posts as a timeline, just look at the photos associated with them, search by specific tags, or look at a calendar that will show when you posted. Plus, it’s just very quick and easy to use so I find myself recording a quick note every day or two so I remember what I did that day, whether it’s a holiday or special event, or just a Tuesday like today.

EveryDollar by The Lampo Group – As you may know from earlier posts, I’ve become a fan of Dave Ramsey and his method of getting out of debt and saving money to have a better life. I’m just starting out, so having this tool come out at around the same time has been a big help. Every Dollar is based on the “zero based budget” idea, meaning that before each month starts you look at (or at least estimate) what your income for the following month will be, and then give every single dollar you expect to earn a job. Some will go for rent, some for groceries, some for utilities, any bills and expenses you may have for the upcoming month are planned out. This app gives you an easy way to track things on the go. You need to first set up your budget on your computer, but once you do most of the actual tracking can be done from your phone. This is currently only available for iPhone, but an Android version is in the works.

IMDb by IMDb – I am addicted to IMDb. I can’t watch a show any more without having to check it to see who some actor or actress is either because I’ve seen them before and want to know what it as in, or because I haven’t seen them before and want to know more about them. Any time I have a question about an actor/actress or a show, IMDb is my go-to place to find out more. I used it online when I first learned about it years ago, and it was one of the first things I ever added to my smartphone once I had one.

Shazam by Shazam Entertainment – I love music, but I never remember who sings what. I love this app because no matter what song is playing, I can find out what it is immediately. For those of you my age, remember listening to the radio and hearing a song you liked, then waiting through a bunch of songs in the hope that the DJ would list what he’d just played? I don’t need to do that any more! I can press a button, hold my phone up to the radio (or just in the same room really) and not only will it tell me the name of the song and who sings it, but give me the opportunity to download it if I want to. It shows me the lyrics, allows me to listen to it again or watch the video, start a station on iTunes Radio based on the artist, and even recommends other songs I might like based on the song I “Shazammed.”

So that’s it for now. My top 5. At least, my top 5 at this current moment in time. It does change weekly, if not daily. What are your favorites?